Will Smith To Produce Le Voyeur

It's no surprise that the adaptation of Le Voyeur has been in development for years. The movie is to be based on a novel by Alain Robbe-Grillet from the 1950's. It tells the story of a travelling watch salesman named Matthias who returns to the island of his youth. While there, a young girl is murdered, and he becomes a suspect. While the plot sounds simple enough, the execution is not. The novel is known for containing an equivocal timeline, little dialogue and no window into the thoughts and emotions of its characters.

That doesn't sound very screenplay-worthy, does it? However, that didn't stop Massy Tadjedin, who previously penned The Jacket, from writing a script from the novel. Perhaps the film just takes the basics of the story and the crime within it. Then again, Tadjedin's adaptation of Jacket played with time, so his screenplay for Voyeur just might work. In 2002 it stalled as a project for Universal Pictures, but now it has been picked up by Columbia Pictures, with Will Smith and James Lassiter producing through Overbrook Entertainment.

There is no mention, yet, of cast, but we're talking about a Will Smith production. He produced The Pursuit of Happyness through Overbrook, so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that he just might take on the role of Matthias. The question now becomes -- what sort of film will it be? The Jacket doesn't seem like a theme Smith would be involved in, so will this adaptation be a ten-tissue drama with hope, or a dark, jarring thriller?